Schumacher won't be beaten again

[MADDOG-99]

Schumacher won't be beaten again - Montoya - 20 July 2004

Juan Pablo Montoya has all but given-up hoping for victory in '04.

The Colombian said a 'Safety Car' period at Silverstone masked what should have been a 'half a minute' win for pending seven-times champion Michael Schumacher.

'Think about it,' the BMW-Williams driver remarked.

'He qualified fourth with enough fuel to two-stop then goes and wins the race with time to spare ... it's amazing. [Ferrari] can do whatever they like.'

Montoya, who's off to McLaren next season, reckons the German could've run the fuel for a one-stop strategy and still won. '[His car] is just that good.'

He continued: 'Their package is so much better.'

Montoya never has much praise for Mr. Schumacher but he reckons, eleven races into the season, no driver is good enough to - on merit - claim ten victories.

'Michael's brilliant but he's not that good,' said Juan.

'The gap [to Ferrari] is too big to bridge.'

On the positive side, though, Montoya cruised to victory at Hockenheim a year ago and Michelin 'usually has [an] upper hand' in Germany, the Colombian noted.

 

[kraken2]

I'm not really a Schumacher fan but he is good and he was by far the best car. Montoya and Alonso i believe could beat him if they had a equal car, but lets face it this year belongs unfortunatily to Schumi.Only when he steps out will we have even races

 

[Blake]

Very true words from a man that doesn't like to give up.

Schumacher is really fast on his own, but he couldn't do it without Ferrari. I'd really like to see him in a below par car. No doubt he'd perform quite well in it but no-where near what he could do in the Ferrari. Tehy let their game slip last year and I don't think they are going to do it again.

I also think this dominance has made the other teams hungry. I don't know whether defeat after crushing defeat is stopping them from trying as hard as they can -- but I know it could also be a very big motivator.

I'd just like to see it when the top teams really are on par with eachother.

Blake

 

[vat_man]

Giles has been saying it all year, and I only realised it watching the British GP - Ferrari have been 'dogging' it - that is, we reckon Schumacher's got a much bigger advantage than they've let on.

Barring mechanical failure, accidents and any Reubens 'shenanigans' I can't see any reason Schumacher wouldn't win the remaining races. At once an astonishing acheivement and a damning inditement of the ruling authority.

 

[Blake]

Micheals unstoppable this season. I mean JPM ruined his chances of 100% win rate, but I reckon he's going to get every race except Monaco. McLaren have caught up alot of ground with the "b" car but it's not enough to stop MSC. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think he's brocken the track record at every race this year.

Blake

 

[toler]

it just shows that all other teams were unable to build proper cars. i do believe however that Rubens will take a few wins when Michaels 7th championship is sealed.

 

[Blake]

You think Micheal will let Rubens win once the championship is over? I think Micheal like to win too much. He only did it beofre because he owed Rubens one.

Blake

 

[Eagle]

I think Michael's just driving home a point at the moment, he'll mellow back out and throw the Brazilian a few. If Rubens doesn't win in Brazil at the season close I'm gonna be surprised and disappointed.

Michael's fast, he has skills of all kinds that contribute to his success, and Ferrari have an incredible combination of car, team, skill and support. I don't know about dogging it though... Raikkonen sure seemed to push him in Silverstone, I know it was the 1 lap pace of the Michelins, but still, I don't really think they'd be holding back.

Everyone focuses on the developments various teams makes to their car throughout the season trying to bridge the gap to Ferrari, but few seem to notice that Ferrari doesn't just stop and marvel at what they've made - there's a reason they spend twice what anyone else does on testing.

 

[vat_man]

I think Michael's just driving home a point at the moment, he'll mellow back out and throw the Brazilian a few. If Rubens doesn't win in Brazil at the season close I'm gonna be surprised and disappointed.

Agree, hence my qualification. Still, much as Schumacher says he's not into the statistics of the sport, I reckon he is, and he might decide to take as many as he can get.

 

[Eagle]

haha, that mans a number cruncher, he may pretend he's not into records but he's piercingly aware of every single record he doesn't hold in the sport.

 

[Blake]

He says he has nothing else to prove but I think he's trying to get his hands on any record he can, but then again if he was he'd put more effort into runnning fast qualifying and do some 3 stop races.

Blake

 

[Eagle]

5 to go, there's plenty of time.

 

[Bollocks#999]

I'd really like to see him in a below par car.

He's been there and done that, remember 1996? in the pig of a thing that was called a racing car


Also Jean Alesi wondered how on earth that Michael drove the 95 Benneton...

 

[Blake]

I mean nowadays.

 

[Şilent Đrifter]

Very true words from a man that doesn't like to give up.

Schumacher is really fast on his own, but he couldn't do it without Ferrari. I'd really like to see him in a below par car. No doubt he'd perform quite well in it but no-where near what he could do in the Ferrari. Tehy let their game slip last year and I don't think they are going to do it again.

I also think this dominance has made the other teams hungry. I don't know whether defeat after crushing defeat is stopping them from trying as hard as they can -- but I know it could also be a very big motivator.

I'd just like to see it when the top teams really are on par with eachother.

Blake

I would like to see him go drive with Manardi.